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In New Jerusalem we will serve Him (Rev. 22:3) and love Him.

No Levitical Service in New Jerusalem

In Exodus and Leviticus both the priestly service and the Levitical service were established. The first was for ministering directly to God, the second for practical support.

New JerusalemIn the New Testament a local church has both elders and deacons (1 Timothy 3:1-7, 8-13). The elders oversee and guide the church; they also minister the Word of God (as do others who are not elders). The deacons help with practical service (e.g. Acts 6:1-3).

In New Jerusalem, everyone of God’s people will be priests, ministering directly to God and being directly supplied by Him. Revelation 22:3b says, “His slaves will serve Him.” The Greek word translated serve means to serve as a priest. In eternity there will be no need for practical service by Levites or deacons.

But don’t wait for New Jerusalem. Revelation 1:5-6 and 5:9-10 both say clearly that all who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb are a kingdom and “priests to our God.” We are all priests to worship God, sing and speak praises to Him, proclaim His worth and accomplishments, and release thanksgivings to Him.

First Peter 2:5 says we all (even babes in Christ, v. 2) “are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices.” Verse 9 adds that we are a royal priesthood to “tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

The priesthood today is our foretaste of and our preparation for New Jerusalem. Let’s all participate!

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by Don on February 16, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 16, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/02/16/no-levitical-service-in-new-jerusalem/

New Jerusalem is a Mutual Indwelling

The New Jerusalem is the tabernacle, and in another sense it is a temple. This is a strong proof that the New Jerusalem is not a physical city but a personal entity. The New Jerusalem is the believers, God’s tabernacle, and God, the believers’ temple. He dwells in us, the tabernacle, and we dwell in Him, the temple. We serve God in God. This is God’s expansion. The New Jerusalem as a spiritual, divine constitution is God’s dwelling place, God’s corporate expression, and God’s expansion to be our temple for us to live in and to serve Him. Praise the Lord for the triune constitution!*

New JerusalemThese aspects of New Jerusalem are the eternal fulfillment of John 14:20, “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” and John 15:4, “Abide in Me and I in you.” The Lord is in us, the disciples, and we are in the Lord.

The Lord prayed for this in John 17:21, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.” His prayer continues “the glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one” (v. 22). This points to the glory expressed by New Jerusalem.

Also, in Revelation 21:22, “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its [New Jerusalem’s] temple.” In this living temple we will live and serve God as priests (22:3).

* From chapter 40, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

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by Don on September 4, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 4, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/09/04/new-jerusalem-is-a-mutual-indwelling/

Live and Serve God in New Jerusalem’s Flow of Life

Revelation 22 describes life in New Jerusalem. The city has “a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,” God’s “slaves will serve Him [as priests],” “they will see His face,” and “they will reign forever and ever.”

New JerusalemIt is here in this flow from the throne that we serve Him and that we see His face. Also, in this flow we reign as kings (22:5). If you do go to the mission field, you must go by taking God’s throne in the center of your being. Then every day out of the throne the water flows and the tree grows. When you drink the water of life and eat the tree of life, you will serve Him, you will see His face, and you will be a king.*

Whatever we do should be in the flow of life from the throne. This is to live Christ by allowing Christ to live in us (Phil. 1:21; Gal. 2:20). By this living we “magnify Christ” and “shine as luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 1:20, 2:15-16). Such a living is a precursor of life in New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 38, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on June 28, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on June 28, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/06/28/live-and-serve-god-in-new-jerusalems-flow-of-life/

Come and Eat, Now and New Jerusalem

Revelation 22:1-2 reveals the river of life and the tree of life. Verses 22:3b-4 presents aspects of life in New Jerusalem, including “His slaves will serve Him; and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”

In the place where the Triune God flows, we serve Him (v. 3). Not only do we serve Him, but also we see His face (v. 4). His face is in the water of life and in the fruit of the tree of life. When you drink the water of life, you see His face. When you eat the fruit of the tree of life, you receive His face. You serve Him by drinking and eating Him.*    77

New JerusalemSix times in John 6 the Lord Jesus speaks of those who “come to Me.” He also told us that He is the bread of life. To come to Him as the bread of life is to eat Him. And He will still be the bread of life in New Jerusalem.

Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts us to put away all the things which entangle us and “run with endurance the race which is set before us, looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” The more we look to Him, the more He nourishes us, and the more we have the present experience of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 38, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of European Space Agency.

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by Don on June 16, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on June 16, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/06/16/come-and-eat-now-and-new-jerusalem/

We Serve God in the Temple; that is, in God Himself

The Old Testament had a physical tabernacle and temple as shadows of the New Testament reality. In the NT time Christ is the reality.

Today we do not have a physical temple, but our temple is our triune, processed, redeeming God, reaching us as the Spirit. Such a Spirit is our temple. We worship and serve God in this temple, and day and night God is our dwelling place. When I was traveling in a plane, I told the Lord, “This plane is not my dwelling place. You are my dwelling place. I am not actually in this plane, but I am in You.”*

New JerusalemIn Revelation 7 John was shown a multitude who “are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple” (v. 15). These believers serve God “in His temple” and in verse 21:22 we are told that “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are [New Jerusalem’s] temple.” Thus, to serve in the temple is to serve in God.

To be in God is the reality both now and in New Jerusalem. To realize this, we need to “seek the things which are above” and “set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth” (Col. 3:1, 2). This connects us to the present spiritual reality of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 37, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The text of this Bible is at text.recoveryversion.bible; this too is © by LSM.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

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by Don on May 1, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on May 1, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/05/01/we-serve-god-in-the-temple-that-is-in-god-himself/

God Himself is Our Dwelling Place

In New Jerusalem, under the throne of God and the Lamb, with the river of life and the tree of life, “His slaves will serve Him” (Rev. 22:3). The Greek text of the New Testament has three different words often translated “serve;” here it means to serve as a priest.

We serve God in God Himself as the Spirit reaching us. When we pray, we pray in God Himself as the Spirit reaching us. The proper prayer and the proper service we render to God must be in God Himself. If we pray in ourselves, that prayer is not genuine. The genuine prayer must be to God and in God. God is our dwelling in the New Testament, and even the Old Testament saints had the same consideration. In Psalm 90:1 Moses said, “O Lord, You have been our dwelling place / In all generations.” This indicates that while Moses was traveling in the wilderness with the children of Israel for forty years, in his deep feeling he was dwelling in God. God was his dwelling place.*

New JerusalemThe word of Moses in Psalm 90 refers to “all generations”, so it is true for us today. The Lord Jesus told us, “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). And 1 Thessalonians was written “to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 1:1).

To have God as our dwelling is not in the physical realm but in the spiritual realm. John 16 tells us that the Spirit guides us into all the reality, including the reality of abiding in God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to open to the Spirit and seek this reality that we may appreciate it today, not waiting for the future.

In New Jerusalem God and the Lamb are the temple and the temple is the holy of holies which includes the whole city. Thus to be in New Jerusalem is to be in the holy of holies which is to be in God and the Lamb.

* From chapter 37, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

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by Don on April 28, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 28, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/04/28/god-himself-is-our-dwelling-place/

Serve God in God Himself, in Spirit

New Jerusalem has a living temple; “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22).

The temple being the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb signifies that the Triune God is our dwelling place in eternity (Deut. 33:27; Psa. 90:1), in which we serve Him. Many people feel that we serve God in the sanctuaries, in the chapels, and in the cathedrals. However, we must realize that the Bible reveals that we serve God in God Himself. We may also say that we serve God in the Spirit. The New Testament shows that the Spirit is the processed Triune God reaching us.*

New JerusalemThe Spirit reaches us and we live and serve God in spirit—our human spirit mingled with the Spirit of God.

Paul, in Romans 1:9 speaks of God “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” And in Romans 7:6, “we serve in newness of spirit.” In our natural man is oldness but in Spirit is newness.

Philippians 3 assures us that circumcision is not an outward form but “we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh” (v. 3). The flesh here is not only our sinful aspects but rather all that we are from our human birth.

In New Jerusalem we, God’s slaves, “will serve Him [as priests]; and they will see His face” (Rev. 22:3-4).

* From chapter 37, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on April 26, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 26, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/04/26/serve-god-in-god-himself-in-spirit/

The Triune God is the Substance of New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:18b, “the city was pure gold, like clear glass.”
Revelation 21:21a, “the twelve gates were twelve pearls.”
Revelation 21:11, “Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone.”

In all three sections concerning God’s eternal building, the materials are always three in number and are in a unique sequence—gold, pearls, and precious stones. These materials are three in number because the actual material for God’s building is the processed Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. God would never use anything other than Himself in His processed Trinity to build up His dwelling place.*

New JerusalemColossians 2:19 speaks of the Triune God building up the Body of Christ with Himself: “the Head [Christ], out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” God in Himself cannot grow; He is perfect, having no need to grow. But He surely needs to grow, to spread, in all His regenerated people.

First Peter clearly presents this need of growth. We have been regenerated “through the living and abiding word of God” (1:23). Then, “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation” (2:2) Our initial salvation is secure forever but we need to progress into the saving experiences of growth and building up.

“Coming to Him, a living stone…you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood” (2:4-5). This built up priesthood culminates in New Jerusalem where we all will serve God as priests” (Rev. 22:3).

* From chapter 29, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on January 6, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on January 6, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/01/06/the-triune-god-is-the-substance-of-new-jerusalem/

Serve God in Fellowship While Seeing His Face

New Jerusalem In Revelation 22:3-4 the description of life in New Jerusalem includes, “And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him; and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”

Notice that all the phrases in Revelation 22:1-5 are connected by and. All these phrases are related to one another; none are independent. All are part of the one experience of living in New Jerusalem.  In 22:3 we serve God and the Lamb; in 22:4 we see His face and His name is on us, proclaiming that we belong to Him.

All of our work for the Lord must be led by fellowship…. We can do His work only after we see God. We should not be doing the work and constantly regretting—this is not fellowship. May God deliver us from any service which is not in fellowship….We should never feel proud, self-content, or self-sufficient upon finishing the work. May God save us and deliver us from any kind of service which does not issue from fellowship and which is not in fellowship….God’s servants will not only have fellowship with Him, but “His name will be on their forehead.” This is their testimony.

All Christian work we do and all our activity should originate in fellowship with God, be done while fellowshipping with Him, and should result in His glory. He is the “before,” the “during,” and the “after.” We must exercise for this three-fold connection now but in New Jerusalem it will be permanent and continuous, with our seeing His face and His name on us

Now & New Jerusalem: Behold His Face (7)

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on September 2, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 2, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/09/02/serve-god-in-fellowship-while-seeing-his-face/

Enjoy and Serve the Triune God in New Jerusalem

Revelation 22 begins with the river of water of life flowing out from the throne of God and the Lamb, the street of New Jerusalem, and the tree of life growing.

New Jerusalem[Revelation 22:3] continues, “And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it.” The situation here is unlike Genesis 3, where God walked in the garden in the cool of the day. Here God is reigning; His very throne is located here. Now the garden has become the city, the place where God is enthroned. “And His slaves will serve Him.” What will the slaves of God do in eternity? They will serve Him. We should never think that in eternity we will have nothing to do. No, we will forever be His slaves, serving Him.*

In Revelation 22:3 we see more of the mystery of the Triune God. The two, God and the Lamb, have one throne. They are One yet they have two aspects. Also, the next little sentence has His and Him, singular pronouns, referring to God and the Lamb. The Triune God is One yet He is also Three.

Revelation 22 speaks clearly of God and the Lamb, but where is the Spirit? The Spirit is the river flowing out from the throne. This matches John 7:38-39. Jesus spoke concerning the flow of “rivers of living water.” (Rivers, plural, are the many experiences of the one Spirit.) Then John explained, “this He said concerning the Spirit.”

In New Jerusalem it will be joyous to serve the Triune God and to be His slaves.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on August 31, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on August 31, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/08/31/enjoy-and-serve-the-triune-god-in-new-jerusalem/

Serve God as Priests and Reign with Him

Revelation 5:9-10 is part of a praise sung to God and the Lamb. “You were slain and have purchased for God by Your blood men out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.”

New JerusalemToday we are priests to God and in New Jerusalem we will also reign as kings. First Peter 2:5 ties our serving as priests to God’s building work. “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Both the building and the priesthood consummate in New Jerusalem. In Luke 19:17, 19 the Lord rewards His faithful servants by having them rule over ten or five cities. And Revelation 20:6 promises, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

Revelation 22:3, 5 say in part about our lives in New Jerusalem, “His slaves will serve Him” in priestly service, and “they will reign forever and ever.” This is the ultimate step of the earlier serving and reigning.

In that city we shall serve God as priests. In eternity we will have nothing to do but to serve God.*

We shall reign as kings over the nations. We will be the priests of God, and we will be the kings of the people. We will have a God to serve and a people to rule.*

Thank the Lord for the wonderful blessings in New Jerusalem.

* Excerpt from The Vision of God’s Building by Witness Lee, chapter 19, © LSM.

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by Don on January 29, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on January 29, 2021

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/serve-god-as-priests-and-reign-with-him/

The Lord God and the Lamb are the Temple

In Revelation 21:22 John speaks about New Jerusalem, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

New JerusalemThere was a temple in the ancient city of Jerusalem, but in the New Jerusalem there is no temple (v. 22), for God Himself and Christ are the temple. They are the temple, where the serving ones will dwell and serve. A temple is a place where those who serve God dwell.… God is the very God whom we serve, but He is also the temple where we serve. That means that we serve God in God. … God Himself and Christ Himself are the temple in which we serve God and Christ.*

Revelation 22:3 says of New Jerusalem, “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him.” To serve here is to serve as priests. This is the fulfillment of Revelation 1:5-6, “Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth” who “made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.”

Through His death and resurrection He made us priests. We serve in this way today, as in Romans 15:16 and 1 Peter 2:5. And we will serve eternally in New Jerusalem.

* Excerpt from The Vision of God’s Building by Witness Lee, chapter 19, © LSM.

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by Don on January 18, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on January 18, 2021

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/the-lord-god-and-the-lamb-are-the-temple/

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